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Archive for January, 2013

Sorry, but I will take a vacation of this blog for a couple of months. I promised to my kitty that I would take her to spend vacation on the beach this year. I can’t break my promise – she already bought a sunshade, a chair and the sunblock!

We deserve to rest for some weeks. In 2012 I was blogging like a crazy… According to Annual Report from WordPress were 230 posts!

According to Wikipedia, Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction that typically features steam-powered machinery, especially in a setting inspired by industrialized Western civilization during the 19th century. Therefore, steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the 19th century’s British Victorian era or American “Wild West”, in a post-apocalyptic future during which steam power has regained mainstream use, or in a fantasy world that similarly employs steam power. Steampunk perhaps most recognizably features anachronistic technologies or retro-futuristic inventions as people in the 19th century might have envisioned them, and is likewise rooted in the era’s perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, and art. Such technology may include fictional machines like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or the modern authors Philip Pullman, Scott Westerfeld, and China Mieville.

A sample of Steampunk in the movies is “Metropolis”, Fritz Lang’s 1927 masterpiece, the oldest precursor of this genre in film, and may be the single most important early film to represent steampunk as an emerging stylistic genre. Others samples are the movies “Time After Time”, 1979, directed by Nicholas Meyer, “Brazil”, 1985, directed by Terry Gilliam, “The City of Lost Children”, 1994, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”, 2003, directed by Stephen Norrington, and “Van Helsing”, 2004, directed by Stephen Sommers.

I never heard about Steampunk until find those illustrations by artist Bjorn Hurri. As a Star Wars fan, I pay attention about everything related with the George Lucas Saga. According Bjorn Hurri, “there is nothing like being able to create worlds and characters that people will enjoy, and I think the ‘Steampunk Star Wars’ illustrations were really good fun as it gave me an opportunity to pay tribute to one of the best movies out there while giving it my personal twist”. You will see Luke, Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca and Master Yoda as Steampunk models, but… and Darth Vader? Well, Hurri is still working on that one. “I continuously redo him over and over again because I feel like the essence of him is hard to nail,” he wrote. “He is such an evil character I want to make sure I pay proper respect to the original design”.

The nominees for the 85th Academy Awards were announced today, January 10, 2013, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California, by Seth McFarlane, host of the 85th annual Academy Awards, and the actress Emma Stone. This marks the first time since 1972 that the ceremony’s host has co-announced the nominations for the Academy Awards (hosted by Charlton Heston that year).

Films receiving the most nominations were “Lincoln” with twelve, followed by “Life of Pi” with eleven. The ceremony is scheduled for February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California. Seth MacFarlane will host the Academy Awards for the first time. Producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron said that the show will pay tribute to the 50th anniversary of the James Bond film series. See all nominees:

Best Foreign Language Film
Amour (Austria) in French – Michael Haneke
Kon-Tiki (Norway) in English and Norwegian – Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg
No (Chile) in Spanish – Pablo Larraín
A Royal Affair (Denmark) in Danish – Nikolaj Arcel
War Witch (Canada) in French – Kim Nguyen

Best Documentary – Feature
5 Broken Cameras – Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi
The Gatekeepers
How to Survive a Plague
The Invisible War
Searching for Sugar Man

The Nuts Magazine has elected the 100 sexiest babes of 2012. Lucy Pinder is the number 1 sexiest babe. Last year Rosie Jones held the top spot, and she falls back to number 2. Click on the images to enlarge. Enjoy.